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Happy birthday, Pierre Delanoë, born on this day in 1919.
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Who was Pierre Delanoë?
Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer (16 December 1918 – 27 December 2006), known professionally as Pierre Delanoë, was a French lyricist who wrote thousands of songs for dozens of singers, including Dalida, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, Johnny Hallyday, Joe Dassin, Michel Sardou and Mireille Mathieu.
Pierre Delanoë wrote more than 5,000 songs and poems. He has written for performers as diverse as Gilbert Bécaud (Nathalie, Et maintenant, Je reviens te chercher), Gérard Lenorman (La Ballade des gens heureux), Dalida (Laissez-moi danser, Salma Ya Salama, Ciao amore, ciao, Comme disait Mistinguett), Michel Sardou (Les Lacs du Connemara, Être une femme, Vladimir Ilitch), Joe Dassin (L’Été indien, Les Champs-Élysées), Michel Fugain (Je n’aurai pas le temps, Fais comme l’oiseau, Une belle histoire), Sylvie Vartan (La Maritza, Qu’est-ce qui fait pleurer les blondes ?), Hugues Aufray (Stewball) ou Nana Mouskouri (L’Amour en héritage).
Biography of Pierre Delanoë
1918 On December 16, Pierre Delanoë was born in Paris in the 10th arrondissement. Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer borrows the name Delanoë, the surname of his grandmother.
1930s A former student of the Oratorians and a law graduate, he joined the Tax Administration and became a supernumerary agent for Registration, Lands and Stamps.
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1940s At the Liberation, he found his brother-in-law Gérald Biesel – known as Frank Gérald -, who composed music. He then had fun putting words to these melodies and they came up with the idea of putting together a duettist number, Pierre on vocals and Frank Gérald on piano. In 1948, “Y’a un pli au carpet du salon” was the title of their first song, to which other titles were added such as “Rondo pour un electron”.
1950s In 1950, one day, Jean Nohain introduced him to the fanciful singer Marie Bizet (who died in 1998), who recorded the song ‘I’m looking for a husband’, followed in 1952 by ‘Quand vous revirez chez moi’. It was at Marie Bizet’s house that Pierre Delanoë met a certain François Silly, who would become Gilbert Bécaud.
Together, they created ‘Mes mains’ in 1953, which Lucienne Boyer immediately added to her repertoire during a show at the Alhambra.
Prestigious performers sing songs by Pierre Delanoë, such as Georges Guétary (‘Au petit trot’ in 1953), Tino Rossi (‘Deux amants’ in 1954), Yvette Giraud (‘Si tu es Jolie’ in 1955) and Edith Piaf ( ‘The Grognards’ in 1958).
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In 1955, Pierre Delanoë became Director of Programs for the peripheral radio station Europe No. 1, a position he held until 1960.
The song ‘Salut les amis’ recorded in 1957 by Gilbert Bécaud would become the title of the radio show and then of the eponymous magazine, symbols of the ‘Yé-Yé’ period.
In 1958, France won Eurovision for the first time thanks to the song ‘Dors mon amour’ performed by André Claveau and written by Pierre Delanoë.
1960s In 1962, after 5 years of work in collaboration with Gilbert Bécaud, Louis Amade and Jacques Emmanuel (who signed the libretto), ‘L’opéra d’Aran’ achieved great success despite the skepticism of observers.
Then Pierre Delanoë translated and adapted Bob Dylan’s songs for Hugues Aufray and the album ‘Aufray chante Dylan’ released in 1965 created an event.
In 1967, Michel Fugain, who had started a few years earlier, recorded ‘You can count on me’, but especially ‘Je n’aura pas le temps’ which was a huge success.
With “Le Bal des Laze” written for Michel Polnareff, Pierre Delanoë showed in 1969 his formidable ability to adapt his writing to the voice and universe of an artist.
In 1969 alone, he signed three Joe Dassin classics with ‘Le petit pain au chocolat’, ‘Les Champs-Élysées’, ‘Le chemin de papa’.
1970s In 1970, he returned to his position at Europe No. 1 for two years. The author has also adapted into French major musicals such as ‘Godspell’ in 1971, an original work by Stephen Schwartz including Daniel Auteuil and Dave in the French cast, and ‘Jesus-Christ Superstar’, created by Andrew Lloyd Weber, and presented at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in 1972.
Author but also talented adapter, Pierre Delanoë rewrote “Africa” by Toto Cutugno to create “L’été indienne” in 1975 and introduced the general public to the watercolors of Marie Laurencin.
Initially released in 1975 on the B side of the 45-rpm ‘Le funambule’, ‘La ballade des gens happy’ became Gérard Lenorman’s most famous song, followed by ‘Le gentil dauphin sad’ (1976), ‘Here are the keys ‘ (1976), ‘The Child of the Cathedrals’ (1977) and ‘If I Were President’ (1980).
1980s Pierre Delanoë served as President of SACEM from 1984 and 1986, then from 1988 to 1990.
1990s He was President of SACEM for the third time from 1992 to 1994.
Now Honorary President of SACEM, he was awarded the Grand Prize for Poets in 1997 by the institution.
2006 On December 27, Pierre Delanoë died of cardiac arrest.
Il a été le directeur des programmes de la station radio Europe 1 à sa création en 1955, et le président de la Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM) à trois reprises.
“C’est ma chanson” paroles :Pierre Delanoë – Musique: Charles Chaplin par le chœur des 3 vallées
Chœur des 3 vallées (Drôme provençale) dirigé par isabelle Finck